The Littlest Shepherd
by Birdieq
Summary: The Shepherds thought their family was complete with four children...then Amelia came along and turned their world upside down. A look at Amelia Shepherd's early years.


The littlest Shepherd was unexpected, in more ways than one, right from the get-go.

Christopher and Carolyn Shepherd agreed that life was good as a family of six. Their oldest, Kathleen, was ten, Nancy was nine, Elizabeth was eight, and Carolyn's pride and joy, Derek, was five - _and a half_ he made sure to point out every chance he got. As much as Carolyn sometimes longed to go back to their babyhood days, she had to admit that she didn't miss lugging around diaper bags and changes of clothing, worrying about whether an outing would interfere with someone's naptime, or diffusing grocery store temper tantrums.

When she went to the doctor and was told she was beginning menopause prematurely - it wasn't much of a surprise, as it had happened to her mother and grandmother as well - Carolyn was at peace with it. She and Christopher hadn't discussed the possibility of having another child since Derek was born. Their house and their hearts were full; they didn't need another baby.

And yet, almost a year to the date after that doctor's appointment, Carolyn found herself peeing on a stick after a bout of the stomach flu turned out not to be the stomach flu after all. When she told her husband that night, he got that same goofy smile he'd had when she announced her first four pregnancies. This little one might not have been planned, but that didn't mean he or she was unwanted, or unloved - at least not by half of the Shepherd clan. Carolyn and Christopher were over the moon, and Derek was thrilled that he would no longer be referred to as "the baby." The girls, on the other hand, were less than enthusiastic; Nancy and Liz were especially grumpy, as it was decided that they would have to share a room in order to free one up for the baby. Carolyn was a bit surprised. The four Shepherd kids were thick as thieves. Jealousy and sibling rivalry were foreign concepts to her. _They'll be fine,_ Christopher insisted, and she tried to enjoy preparing for the little one despite the sulking.

When the family went to a Yankees game one late July afternoon, the last thing on Carolyn's mind was going into labor. Not one of her children came before forty weeks, with Kathleen and Nancy coming at forty-one and forty-two weeks, respectively, and she was still ten weeks from her due date. Baby Shepherd, however, had other plans. Halfway through the game Carolyn started having contractions. _Braxton-Hicks contractions,_ she told herself. She'd had them with all her pregnancies. Then the unexpected happened - her water broke, just as they were leaving the stadium after the game.

An hour later Carolyn was informed that her baby was in distress and that she needed a cesarean section - her first. At 9:37pm Amelia Caroline Shepherd made her entrance into the world, weighing in at a scrawny three pounds, thirteen ounces and already flaunting a full head of that trademark Shepherd hair, and was promptly whisked off to the NICU.

It was two days before Carolyn was able to get out of bed and visit her tiny daughter, but in the meantime Christopher stayed with her and reported back to his wife. She was on oxygen, and they had to put in a feeding tube, but that wasn't unusual for a baby that was ten weeks early. Other than that she was doing well, and continued to get stronger every day.

After a week Carolyn was discharged but for the next five weeks she spent every day at the hospital, and every night praying that her youngest would soon be home with the rest of the family.

Finally the day came when Amelia no longer required oxygen and was taking all her feedings from a bottle. Carolyn practically screamed with joy when the doctor said she was being discharged. They barely got through the door before Derek, now seven, was tugging on his mother's arm. "I wanna hold her! Please? Can I hold her?" he begged as he bounced with excitement. Children weren't allowed in the NICU, so he'd only gotten glimpses of his baby sister through the window the handful of times Christopher had brought the kids to the hospital.

Carolyn laughed, glad that at least someone was excited; the girls had barely glanced up from the TV show they were watching. "Yes, of course you can, but you need to sit down." She waited until he was seated in the easy chair, with one arm propped up on a pillow, to set the sleeping baby in his lap.

He wrapped one arm around her protectively, and with the other hand pulled back the blankets to get a better look. Suddenly she stirred and stared up at him with round, blue-gray eyes. He stroked one hand gently and grinned when she grabbed a hold of one finger. "Hey! She likes me! Look, mom!"

"Of course she does! She knows you're her big brother." Carolyn ruffled her son's hair and headed to the kitchen to get a bottle ready, knowing the baby would be hungry soon. Sure enough, Amelia was starting to fuss when she returned. "You want to give her her bottle, buddy?" Derek nodded eagerly, and Carolyn showed him how to hold it. "Like this, so she doesn't get any air. That hurts her tummy."

Soon the bottle was empty and Derek reluctantly returned the baby to his mother to be burped. "Anyone else want to hold her?" Carolyn asked afterwards as the girls averted their gazes. "Oh, come on. Lizzie?"

"Mom, I'm trying to watch this," Elizabeth whined.

"Nancy?"

Nancy scowled. "I told you I don't want a baby sister!"

"Oh, come on. Kate?"

Kathleen rolled her eyes but held out her arms, more to get her mother to shut up than anything else. "Fine, but just for a minute." She took the baby and had to admit she was pretty cute, though she wasn't about to say that to her mother. "Hey, she's smiling!"

Carolyn chuckled. She knew better. Sure enough, Amelia was filling her diaper a minute later and Kathleen's excitement turned to disgust. "Ew, gross! I'm not changing her!" she squealed as she quickly thrust the baby back at Carolyn.

"Easy, Kath! You have to support her head!" Carolyn snapped as she rescued Amelia, who was now wailing.

"I don't care! She stinks!" Kathleen plugged her nose and pretended to gag, her younger sisters giggling and following suit as Carolyn retreated to the nursery. She got Amelia changed and sat in the rocking chair, trying to calm the screaming baby. After a few minutes the door creaked open. She looked up to see Derek creeping in.

"Is she okay?" he asked, his blue eyes wide with concern.

"Oh, she's fine," Carolyn assured her son. "She'll quiet down in a minute and go to sleep."

He nodded and tugged the little knit cap off Amelia's head. "It's okay, Amy. I love you even if the stupid girls don't, an' I'll always take care of you," he cooed as he ran his fingers over her silky, dark hair before bending town to kiss her forehead gently. "Always and forever."

 **So, this is just something I came up with on my lunch break the other day. It won't be a story so much as a series of drabbles chronicling Amelia's early years. Let me know what you think.**


End file.
